A news story that caught my eye this week was that of die-hard fan Kirk Bradley, who has had “Manchester City – Champions League Winners 2011” stamped onto his arm. Unlikely to say the least.
He is not the first, nor will he be the last terrace tosspot to get a dubious tattoo. His fellow Citizens fanatic Christopher Atkinson was foolish enough to get ‘Kaka’ scrawled across his chest when they were in talks with him last January. If Mr. Atkinson continues the trend of getting the names of players that Man City are linked to inked onto his body then he’ll end up looking a bit like that leopard chump.
Of course, the most famous fan prick(ed) by a needle was Geordie doofus Robert Nesbit who you may recall had a large Andy Cole tattoo streaking across his leg, only for the predatory hit man to desert his beloved magpies for Man Utd just days later.
Back to Mr. Bradley and his lofty ambitions. Whilst there is only an infinitesimal chance of this arm ink oracle being accurate, there is just cause for Eastland’s to be flooded with optimism right now.
I made a wager regarding Man City with my 90mins colleague, a certain Mr. Douglas, the details of which he mentioned, somewhat erroneously I might add, in a recent article. He claimed that following Thaksin Shinawatra’s takeover of Man City in June 2007, I bet him that by the end of this 09-10 season they would be in the top four of the Premiership.
For a start, this is impossible, because I was not in the country at all in 2007, so therefore I did not have the (mis)fortune of spending time with my friend the Smuggler. Furthermore, I wouldn’t have made such a bet, because I knew nothing of Shinawatra apart from the fact that he was the Prime Minister of Thailand and a billionaire – but by this point half a dozen other Premiership clubs had foreign billionaires at the helm, with lofty ambitions and deep pockets. They all seemed much of a muchness and I didn’t see his presence as being a real difference maker.
Fast forward over a year to September 2008. Following a turbulent reign which involving corruption charges, human rights violation accusations and the shocking protracted firing of Sven Goran Eriksson, Shinawatra dramatically sold the club to the Abu Dhabi group on the final day of August.
This led to the frantic flurry of gargantuan transfer bids that rocked the footballing world culminating in the seemingly impossible double whammy of out-bidding Chelsea for Real Madrid’s star player Robinho – and him agreeing to the move!
Following this incredible coup, the back pages were full of stories of the new owner’s incredible wealth, with gleaming graphs showing how their riches dwarfed that of Abramovich and his ilk.
Now these guys were difference makers. They broke the British transfer record within hours of the takeover being completed and looked set to pour absurd amounts of cash into the club which seemed even more unfathomable given how the world was just starting to enter the delightful global recession that we’re all still enjoying so much.
It was a couple of weeks later that I made the bet with old Smuglas, that Man City would get a top four position in either that season or this. I thought that last season was too soon. They left the takeover far too late in the summer for that and despite Robinho being an impressive buy, he is more the icing on the cake as opposed to the foundations that the team were sorely lacking.
I didn’t believe that the level of talent required to make such a quantum leap would be available in January, so whilst I knew they’d spend, I thought that upper mid table would be the best they could hope for.
My hopes for the bet were obviously pinned on them obliterating the transfer market this summer and having a real crack at storming the top four this year. I have watched their transfer activity with some interest and although I’m somewhat sceptical about the parallels you can make with Real Madrid’s ‘galactico’ style of creating a top-heavy team, I still retain confidence that I’ll win the bet.
It’s not so much that Man City have strengthened, even though they undoubtedly have. No, it’s more because you could argue that all the ‘Big 4’ teams have weakened.
Man Utd have obviously lost an incomparable goal threat in Ronaldo and Tevez. It seems that the absence of the mercurial rat faced twat bombing forward will result in United being more solid and compact, hoping to snatch more narrow victories. The onus will be on Owen, Valencia and fringe players such as Nani and Wellbeck to step up and weigh in with more of a regular goal threat.
Liverpool have just had Xavi Alonso wrestled from their grasp and even though it is early days, their midfield certainly looked like it lacked the fluidity that the Spaniard provided in the away defeat to Spurs. A lot of pressure will be on new boy Aquilani to get fit, stay fit and provide the balance to the team that Alonso once brought.
Chelsea’s season was raised from the dead last term by Guus Hiddink, who managed to endear himself to players and fans alike in an unbelievably short period of time, becoming an instant cult figure. Can Ancelotti cut the mustard? Clearly a mastermind when it comes to European competition, but hardly a stellar record when it comes to securing league titles, with one Scudetto in eight attempts with Milan. The Italian also has a similar problem that he encountered at the San Siro – an ageing squad.
Arsenal sold two major players, to Man City no less, in Adebayor and Toure. They have replacements in Eduardo’s return and Vermaelen’s arrival, but last season seemed to suggest that they need to reinforce rather than merely replace. The lack of a midfield general to complement Fabregas still appears to be a glaring omission and whilst they’ve made an awe-inspiring flying start, they’ve been known to run out of puff before and physical fixtures against the likes of Bolton, Blackburn & Stoke could once again become their undoing.
It’s been a tumultuous summer for the ‘Big Four’. I think that Chelsea have suffered the least trauma, so I predict that they’ll nick the Premiership title this season. My theory is that with all four of them weakening, they’ve been brought into range of Man City’s heavy artillery. It’ll be fascinating to see if Hughes’s men can do it and help share the wealth by virtue of aiding me win my bet. Is my logic fundamentally faultless or fatally flawed? Your opinions are always welcome.....